CLEVELAND — It was 259 days earlier that Zak Zinter lay on the turf at Michigan Stadium, his left leg fractured and his college career prematurely ended. At that point, he was left to wonder when, or where, he would ever step on a football field in a competitive again.

The answer to the first question was Saturday. The second answer? Inside Cleveland Browns Stadium, when Zinter took the field on the Browns' second offensive possession of their 23-10 preseason loss to the Green Bay Packers.

"Yeah, man, I mean it felt good, you know what I mean?," Zinter said in the locker room afterwards. "Like I said before, it's what I've been working for, rehabbing for. It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. It felt good to put the pads back on, suiting up. It feels like putting the armor on and going out there hitting someone with another jersey on."

Zinter's day consisted of 37 snaps, all of those at right guard in place of Pro Bowler Wyatt Teller. Those were 64% of the offensive snaps the Browns had against Green Bay, and the third-most snaps among any Cleveland offensive lineman on the day.

Fellow rookie Javion Cohen was the team leader in backup snaps against the Packers, having started in place of Pro Bowler Joel Bitonio at left guard and played 44 snaps, or 76%. Zack Johnson, who came in after backup center Luke Wypler's devastating broken ankle, played 40 snaps, or 69%.

"I thought they had some good moments certainly in that game, and then obviously some moments that we have to clean up," head coach Kevin Stefanski said in a Zoom call Sunday afternoon. "That's the statement really on a lot of our young guys, but I think it's true if you watch a tape on our young players in particular, it's just a little inconsistent and that means some good and some bad. So those guys are right where they need to be. They're progressing well. We'll continue to move them into different positions, left side, right side, as we continue on here in training camp."

The only other guard to really see significant snaps was Wyatt Davis. He played 27 snaps, or 49%, with part of those filling in for Zinter on the right side and part for Cohen on the left.

The two rookies, Zinter and Cohen, have been the Browns' primary guards, especially over the last week with Michael Dunn out with an undisclosed injury. Zinter was the Browns' third-round pick in April, while Cohen was an undrafted free agent who started his college career at the University of Alabama before finishing at the University of MIami.

Zinter and Cohen have essentially become interchangeable depending on which group they're with in practice.

"We run with the twos and I get that chance right there at the left," Cohen said after the game. "When we go to the 3s me and Zak flip, and I go to the right, he go to the left, just to get a little cross training going. I think that's good for our careers, good for our potential and good for our education as well, playing O-line."

The education was slightly different for Cohen on Saturday than it was Zinter. The only reason for that was because of the fact he was starting in place of Bitonio, which meant he dealt with one series against the Green Bay first-unit defense.

Cohen acknowledged those nine plays were his true "Welcome to the NFL" moment.

"To be completely honest with you, I did reps with the first string today and then reps with second string today," Cohen said. "That was two totally different speeds to me. The first drive we was out there, that felt like the NFL; the second drive kind of felt like college. High level college, of course. But that first drive, (Packers Pro Bowl defensive lineman) Kenny Clark, three tech, first pass protection, we sliding away. So I'm by myself. That was NFL for me and a great experience, of course."

Zinter's experience may be about to expand. Wypler's injury creates a true depth issue at center behind starter Ethan Pocic and Johnson, who, at least for the time being, elevates up to be the backup there.

Asked after the game if he had ever played center, Zinter said, "I played two spring balls at center. So I mean I'm comfortable snapping and doing all that."

The question will be if the Browns want to add that much more onto the plate of a rookie. Even for rookies who played at high-level college program, the first half of training camp, as well as the offseason work before that, has already been a head-spinning adjustment.

"For me personally, every week is big," Cohen said. "Every day is big. I went undrafted, so I got to fight and claw for every opportunity that I'm getting and today was a great first step in that direction."

The flip side to that is the opportunity the Browns, specifically the rookies, have in front of them this week. The Minnesota Viking come to town not only for a preseason game next Saturday where Cohen and Zinter figure to get even more snaps, but also the joint practices Wednesday and Thursday.

The Vikings boast a talented defensive front, with players such as Jonathan Greenard, Johnathon Bullard and Harrison Phillips. That's a challenge for anyone, especially a couple of rookies currently backing up arguably one of the best guard tandems in the league in Bitonio and Teller.

"Yeah, I mean it's huge," Zinter said. "I mean, the only way to get better at football is playing football, so I mean the more reps the better. I mean whether it's right, left, whether I'm going to start getting some center reps or whatever it is, you know what I mean? So just trying to soak in is do as much as I can."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Zak Zinter, Javion Cohen in key backup roles for Browns as rookies